Machine learning combines with 3D grade control to add precision and speed to excavation
By Lee Toop, Associate Editor

A

utomation is the word of the
day for machine control systems, with more options for
greater precision regularly
becoming available. Automatic systems that take advantage of
advancing technology are making life
easier for operators while also improving the bottom line for owners.
One challenge that contractors face
with machine control, however, is that

many systems are not modular – they
are designed for a certain brand of
machine and can’t move from one to
the next if, say, an excavator is taken
off a jobsite and another is sent to take
its place.
Topcon recently released an update
to its automated system that brings a
modular design to 3D machine control,
while also taking advantage of new
technology to increase the precision of
grading operations.
The X-53x automatic excavator
system introduced this year at bauma

makes it easier for operators to reach
the grade they need faster and with far
less stress. An update to the company’s
X-52x 2D system released two years
ago, the X-53x system uses the MCX1 control platform that gives it more
functionality in various areas.

Modular system for multiple uses

Kris Maas, director of machine control product management with Topcon,
said the company has been working
for several years to develop a modular
system that could be used on multiple

“All of the pieces
of the puzzle
have fallen
together, because
we are using selflearning for the
first time in a
control system.”
Kris Maas

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Okada has a wide variety of attachments. Breakers.
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platforms; the MC-X1 platform has
been a key to reaching that goal.
“The CPU power on that was extremely high two years ago, which
means we don’t have to upgrade the
system all the time – it’s future-proof.
Secondly, we wanted to start working
with self-learning and adapt to new
technology that is coming out. People
are working on autonomy and a lot of
other new things. . . that was one of
the requirements, to have self-learning
capacity within the controller,” Maas
said. “All of the pieces of the puzzle
have fallen together, because we are
using self-learning for the first time in
a control system.”
Maas said the X-53x is not only able
to provide precise machine control, but
it also adapts to the jobsite conditions
from day to day.
“If it’s in soft material one day
and harder material the next day, and
you’ve never done that before with that
machine, the system will start learning
that this is different, the valves need
to react differently, and it will adapt to
the situation,” he explained.